This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Feb. 2, 2011 - For a 5 year old, Calvin Campbell has quite a reputation at Shenandoah Elementary School, 3412 Shenandoah Ave. He was considered so unruly that school officials had refused for several months to allow him to return to his kindergarten class, says his mother, Kimberely Evans.
But last week, with the help of an innovative project run by Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, the school agreed to adopt an individualized education plan, along with counseling services that are expected to help Calvin adjust to a structured school environment.
The program is called the Children's Health Advocacy Program, or CHAP. Based in hospitals and clinics, CHAP is a partnership between two professions -- doctors and lawyers -- that are known more for adversarial relationships than cooperation. In addition to doctors and lawyers, the partnerships include nurses, social workers, psychologists and paralegals. All members are committed to combining resources to improve the well-being of low-income people. Along with Legal Services lawyers, the local partnership includes Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center, Grace Hill Health Centers, St. Louis Children's Hospital and St. Louis University Law School. Such networks now exist in more than 200 hospitals and health centers nationwide. The St. Louis program is in its third year.
Preventing a kid from being suspended or expelled from school is not one of the common undertakings by the local CHAP. Issues more common involve helping children get access to medical services or financial support or get out of dilapidated housing that might be affecting a child's health.
The partnership has made legal assistance part of patient care, says Lucas Caldwell-McMillan, a Legal Services lawyer. He and some other paid and volunteer lawyers for CHAP have office space at the hospital and health facilities. He says it's common for a doctor or another medical provider to refer patients to an attorney if a social issue, such as bad housing, is affecting a child's health.
"When grandmothers, aunts, uncles go to the pediatrician's office over and over, the pediatrician realizes these adults are the ones taking care of the children," he says. "We help those folks get guardianship and temporary custody so they can help the child get access to medical treatment, enroll in school, get Medicaid and other public benefits."
Thomas Vogel, a psychologist who directs mental health services at Grace Hill Neighborhood Health Centers, says the problem typically starts out as a health issue that might raise legal questions. "The child may not sit still in the classroom, may keep leaving the classroom. He may have been kicked out of school numerous times because he's mouthing off," Vogel says.
In some instances, he says, the problem "may have some legal ramifications," such as a school calling a parent repeatedly to come pick up an unruly child.
"The school really shouldn't be calling the parent to pick up that child," he argues, saying that, ideally, school districts should provide services to accommodate children.
Chip Jones, associate superintendent for student services for St. Louis Public Schools, says that's exactly what his district now tries to do to avoid removing children.
"Yes, they do get put out for behavior problems," he says, adding that privacy laws prevented him for discussing specific children. But, he says, the district tries to be "proactive and ask what can we do to make it better, working with the child and family."
Young Calvin's mother, Kimberely Evans, says her child was allowed to return only because a CHAP lawyer, Latasha Barnes, intervened on the family's behalf.
"They said they couldn't control him," Evans says. "Whenever I tried to talk to them, they'd give me the runaround. But after I hooked up with the lawyer, the people at the school started to answer my questions."
Barnes says the district is now providing Calvin with counseling, therapy and other services. She suggested that lack of resources was one reason youngsters in some districts don't get proper services. On the other hand, she says some district have programs to address problems like those raised by Calvin's case.
Daniel Glazier, executive director of Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, stressed that CHAP doesn't see a lot of school enrollment issues. More typical, he says, was the case of a child with severe arthritis. She had difficulty keeping up in class and her teacher embarrassed her for missing many school days. Her pediatrician eventually alerted CHAP, which stepped in to help the student get modified classroom instruction as well as some homebound instruction.
Another example involved a pediatrician at Glennon who wanted to know why a kid with an elevated blood-lead level was still living in housing tainted with lead. That health issue was solved when a volunteer attorney for CHAP intervened to help the family get a housing voucher for replacement housing. Most of CHAP's attention involves making sure at-risk people get medications, health coverage, and any specialized care or therapy that they might need.
CHAP has assisted more than 500 persons since early 2009, Glazier says. Hundreds more still are being helped. He adds that the agency does surveys to find out how parents and families feel about the work.
"We have the expertise here at Legal Services where we can work with these folks. We've demonstrated that the kids' health is improving because of the services that we provide."
At least 93 percent of the respondents indicate in surveys that the health and well-being of the children had improved as a result of CHAP's work, Glazier adds.
